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Businesses trained on Procurement Act

Feb 21, 2017, 12:26 PM | Article By: Abdoulie Nyockeh

The Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA), in collaboration with the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), recently organised a daylong training course on the Public Procurement Act for small and medium enterprises.

The training, organised as part of the procurement reform in The Gambia being bankroll by the EU, brought together more than 25 participants at the EMPRETEC office in Bakau Newtown.

Speaking on the occasion, Hamat Bah, a staff of Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA), said: “The training is very timely and equally important for most small businesses who don’t know public procurement and they have not been participating in public procurement.”

He said the training is “a rear opportunity” that the participants could utilise to derive a lot of benefits to empower themselves in their businesses.

The training was expected to make the small and medium enterprises conversant with the Public Procurement Amendment Act.

“It is very important for a small and medium enterprise to know how to fill bidding document, know how to present their bidding and also how to go about requirement for evaluation criteria,” Mr Bah said.

“With this training, the participants should be to participate in public tendering so as to increase their business with government.”

Olivier Barnouin, a trainer from EU, said the training was geared towards building the capacity of small and medium enterprises to participate in public procurement.

A participant, Fatou Maria of ConAfrique, expressed delight with her participation in the training, saying “this course is very important”.

Ndey Fatou Njie, founder of TIGA Swimwear, also a participant, said:  “Today is my first time to attend this kind of training on public procurement.  The training is very vital to my business and I hope to gain more knowledge to help grow my business.

“At the end of the training, I will be able to participate in public procurement with other competitors.”

Another participant, Malick M. Jarju of Africa Energy Solution, said the training would help businesses like his to participate more in public procurement.